Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 (repealed)Show full title

[F1 [F2 Section 1A U.K. Procedures and methods of administrative cooperation applicable until the application of the registered exporter system

Sub-section 1 U.K. General principles

Article 97k U.K.

1. Every beneficiary country shall comply or ensure compliance with:

(a) the rules on the origin of the products being exported, laid down in Section 1;

(b) the rules for completion and issue of certificates of origin Form A, a specimen of which is set out in Annex 17;

(c) the provisions for the use of invoice declarations, a specimen of which is set out in Annex 18;

(d) the provisions concerning methods of administrative cooperation referred to in Article 97s;

(e) the provisions concerning granting of derogations referred to in Article 89.

2. The competent authorities of the beneficiary countries shall cooperate with the Commission or the Member States by, in particular:

(a) providing all necessary support in the event of a request by the Commission for the monitoring by it of the proper management of the scheme in the country concerned, including verification visits on the spot by the Commission or the customs authorities of the Member States;

(b) without prejudice to Articles 97s and 97t, verifying the originating status of products and the compliance with the other conditions laid down in this section, including visits on the spot, where requested by the Commission or the customs authorities of the Member States in the context of origin investigations.

3. Where, in a beneficiary country, a competent authority for issuing certificates of origin Form A is designated, documentary proofs of origin are verified, and certificates of origin Form A for exports to the European Union are issued, that beneficiary country shall be considered to have accepted the conditions laid down in paragraph 1.

[F3 4. When a country or territory is admitted or readmitted as a beneficiary country in respect of products referred to in Regulation (EU) No 978/2012, goods originating in that country or territory shall benefit from the generalised system of preferences on condition that they were exported from the beneficiary country or territory on or after the date referred to in Article 97s.]

5. A proof of origin shall be valid for 10 months from the date of issue in the exporting country and shall be submitted within the said period to the customs authorities of the importing country.

[F4 6. For the purpose sub-section 2 and 3 of this Section, where a country or territory has been removed from the list of beneficiary countries referred to in Article 97s(2), the obligations laid down in Articles 97k(2), 97l(5), 97t(3), (4), (6) and (7) and 97u(1) shall continue to apply to that country or territory for a period of three years from the date of its removal from that list.

7. The obligations referred to in paragraph 6 shall apply to Singapore for a period of three years starting from 1 January 2014 .]

Textual Amendments

F3 Substituted by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 530/2013 of 10 June 2013 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code.

F4 Inserted by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 530/2013 of 10 June 2013 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code.

Sub-section 2 U.K. Procedures at export in the beneficiary country

Article 97l U.K.

1. Certificates of origin Form A, a model of which is set out in Annex 17, shall be issued on written application from the exporter or its authorised representative, together with any other appropriate supporting documents proving that the products to be exported qualify for the issue of a certificate of origin Form A.

2. The certificate shall be made available to the exporter as soon as the export has taken place or is ensured. However, a certificate of origin Form A may exceptionally be issued after exportation of the products to which it relates, if:

(a) it was not issued at the time of exportation because of errors or involuntary omissions or special circumstances; or

(b) it is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the competent governmental authorities that a certificate of origin Form A was issued but was not accepted at importation for technical reasons.

3. The competent governmental authorities may issue a certificate retrospectively only after verifying that the information supplied in the exporter’s application agrees with that in the corresponding export file and that a certificate of origin Form A satisfying the provisions of this section was not issued when the products in question were exported. Box 4 of certificates of origin Form A issued retrospectively must contain the endorsement ‘ Issued retrospectively ’ or ‘ Délivré à posteriori ’ .

4. In the event of the theft, loss or destruction of a certificate of origin Form A, the exporter may apply, to the competent governmental authorities which issued it, for a duplicate to be made out on the basis of the export documents in their possession. Box 4 of a duplicate Form A issued in this way must be endorsed with the word ‘ Duplicate ’ or ‘ Duplicata ’ , together with the date of issue and the serial number of the original certificate. The duplicate takes effect from the date of the original.

5. For the purposes of verifying whether the product for which a certificate of origin Form A is requested complies with the relevant rules of origin, the competent governmental authorities shall be entitled to call for any documentary evidence or to carry out any check which they consider appropriate.

6. Completion of box 2 of the certificate of origin Form A shall be optional. Box 12 shall bear the mention ‘ European Union ’ or the name of one of the Member States. The date of issue of the certificate of origin Form A shall be indicated in box 11. The signature to be entered in that box, which is reserved for the competent governmental authorities issuing the certificate, as well as the signature of the exporter’s authorised signatory to be entered in box 12, shall be handwritten.

Article 97m U.K.

[F3 1. The invoice declaration may be made out by any exporter operating in a beneficiary country for any consignment consisting of one or more packages containing originating products whose total value does not exceed EUR 6 000 , and provided that the administrative cooperation referred to in Article 97k(2) applies to this procedure.]

2. The exporter making out an invoice declaration shall be prepared to submit at any time, at the request of the customs or other competent governmental authorities of the exporting country, all appropriate documents proving the originating status of the products concerned.

3. An invoice declaration shall be made out by the exporter in either French or English by typing, stamping or printing on the invoice, the delivery note or any other commercial document, the declaration, the text of which appears in Annex 18. If the declaration is handwritten, it shall be written in ink in printed characters. Invoice declarations shall bear the original signature of the exporter in manuscript.

4. The use of an invoice declaration shall be subject to the following conditions:

(a) one invoice declaration shall be made out for each consignment;

(b) if the goods contained in the consignment have already been subject to verification in the exporting country by reference to the definition of ‘ originating products ’ , the exporter may refer to that verification in the invoice declaration.

5. When cumulation under Articles 84, 85 or 86 applies, the competent governmental authorities of the beneficiary country called on to issue a certificate of origin Form A for products in the manufacture of which materials originating in a party with which cumulation is permitted are used shall rely on the following:

• in the case of bilateral cumulation, on the proof of origin provided by the exporter’s supplier and issued in accordance with the provisions of sub-section 5,

• in the case of cumulation with Norway, Switzerland or Turkey, on the proof of origin provided by the exporter’s supplier and issued in accordance with the GSP rules of origin of Norway, Switzerland or Turkey, as the case may be,

• in the case of regional cumulation, on the proof of origin provided by the exporter’s supplier, namely a certificate of origin Form A, a model of which appears at Annex 17 or, as the case may be, an invoice declaration, the text of which appears in Annex 18,

• in the case of extended cumulation, on the proof of origin provided by the exporter’s supplier and issued in accordance with the provisions of the relevant free-trade agreement between the European Union and the country concerned.

In the cases referred to in the first, second, third and forth indent of the first sub-paragraph, Box 4 of certificate of origin Form A shall, as the case may be, contain the indication ‘ EU cumulation ’ , ‘ Norway cumulation ’ , ‘ Switzerland cumulation ’ , ‘ Turkey cumulation ’ , ‘ regional cumulation ’ , ‘ extended cumulation with country x ’ or ‘ Cumul UE ’ , ‘ Cumul Norvège ’ , ‘ Cumul Suisse ’ , ‘ Cumul Turquie ’ , ‘ cumul régional ’ , ‘ cumul étendu avec le pays x ’ .

Textual Amendments

F3 Substituted by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 530/2013 of 10 June 2013 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code.

Sub-section 3 U.K. Procedures at release for free circulation in the European Union

Article 97n U.K.

1. Certificates of origin Form A or invoice declarations shall be submitted to the customs authorities of the Member States of importation in accordance with the procedures concerning the customs declaration.

2. Proofs of origin which are submitted to the customs authorities of the importing country after the period of validity mentioned in Article 97k (5) may be accepted for the purpose of applying the tariff preferences, where failure to submit these documents by the final date set is due to exceptional circumstances. In other cases of belated presentation, the customs authorities of the importing country may accept the proofs of origin where the products have been presented to customs before the said final date.

Article 97o U.K.

1. Where, at the request of the importer and on the conditions laid down by the customs authorities of the importing Member State, dismantled or non-assembled products within the meaning of General rule 2(a) for the interpretation of the Harmonized System and falling within Section XVI or XVII or heading 7308 or 9406 of the Harmonized System are imported by instalments, a single proof of origin for such products may be submitted to the customs authorities on importation of the first instalment.

2. At the request of the importer and having regard to the conditions laid down by the customs authorities of the importing Member State, a single proof of origin may be submitted to the customs authorities at the importation of the first consignment when the goods:

(a) are imported within the framework of frequent and continuous trade flows of a significant commercial value;

(b) are the subject of the same contract of sale, the parties of this contract established in the exporting country or in the Member State(s);

(c) are classified in the same code (eight digits) of the Combined Nomenclature;

(d) come exclusively from the same exporter, are destined for the same importer, and are made the subject of entry formalities at the same customs office of the same Member State.

This procedure shall be applicable for a period determined by the competent customs authorities.

Article 97p U.K.

1. When originating products are placed under the control of a customs office of a single Member State, it shall be possible to replace the original proof of origin by one or more certificates of origin Form A for the purpose of sending all or some of these products elsewhere within the European Union or, where applicable, to Norway, Switzerland or Turkey.

2. Replacement certificates of origin Form A shall be issued by the customs office under whose control the products are placed. The replacement certificate shall be made out on the basis of a written request by the re-exporter.

3. The top right-hand box of the replacement certificate shall indicate the name of the intermediary country where it is issued. Box 4 shall contain the words ‘ Replacement certificate ’ or ‘ Certificat de remplacement ’ , as well as the date of issue of the original certificate of origin and its serial number. The name of the re-exporter shall be given in box 1. The name of the final consignee may be given in box 2. All particulars of the re-exported products appearing on the original certificate shall be transferred to boxes 3 to 9 and references to the re-exporter’s invoice shall be given in box 10.

4. The customs authorities which issued the replacement certificate shall endorse box 11. The responsibility of the authorities shall be confined to the issue of the replacement certificate. The particulars in box 12 concerning the country of origin and the country of destination shall be taken from the original certificate. This box shall be signed by the re-exporter. A re-exporter who signs this box in good faith shall not be responsible for the accuracy of the particulars entered on the original certificate.

5. The customs office which is requested to perform the operation referred to in paragraph 1 shall note on the original certificate the weights, numbers and nature of the products forwarded and indicate thereon the serial numbers of the corresponding replacement certificate or certificates. It shall keep the original certificate for at least three years. A photocopy of the original certificate may be annexed to the replacement certificate.

6. In the case of products which benefit from the tariff preferences under a derogation granted in accordance with Article 89, the procedure laid down in this Article shall apply only when such products are intended for the European Union. Where the product concerned has acquired originating status through regional cumulation, a replacement certificate may only be made out for sending products to Norway, Switzerland or Turkey where these countries apply the same regional cumulation rules as the European Union.

Article 97q U.K.

1. Products sent as small packages from private persons to private persons or forming part of travellers’ personal luggage shall be admitted as originating products benefiting from the tariff preferences referred to in Article 66 without requiring the presentation of a certificate of origin Form A or an invoice declaration, provided that:

(a) such products:

i)

are not imported by way of trade;

ii)

have been declared as meeting the conditions required for benefiting from the scheme;

(b) there is no doubt as to the veracity of the declaration referred to in point (a)(ii).

2. Imports shall not be considered as imports by way of trade if all the following conditions are met:

(a) the imports are occasional;

(b) the imports consist solely of products for the personal use of the recipients or travellers or their families;

(c) it is evident from the nature and quantity of the products that no commercial purpose is in view.

3. The total value of the products referred to in paragraph 2 shall not exceed EUR 500 in the case of small packages or EUR 1 200 in the case of products forming part of travellers’ personal luggage.

Article 97r U.K.

1. The discovery of slight discrepancies between the statements made in the certificate of origin Form A or in an invoice declaration, and those made in the documents submitted to the customs office for the purpose of carrying out the formalities for importing the products shall not ipso facto render the certificate or declaration null and void if it is duly established that that document does correspond to the products submitted.

2. Obvious formal errors on a certificate of origin Form A, a movement certificate EUR.1 or an invoice declaration shall not cause this document to be rejected if these errors are not such as to create doubts concerning the correctness of the statements made in that document.

Sub-section 4 U.K. Methods of administrative cooperation

Article 97s U.K.

1. The beneficiary countries shall inform the Commission of the names and addresses of the governmental authorities situated in their territory which are empowered to issue certificates of origin Form A, together with specimen impressions of the stamps used by those authorities, and the names and addresses of the relevant governmental authorities responsible for the control of the certificates of origin Form A and the invoice declarations.

The Commission will forward this information to the customs authorities of the Member States. When this information is communicated within the framework of an amendment of previous communications, the Commission will indicate the date of entry into use of those new stamps according to the instructions given by the competent governmental authorities of the beneficiary countries. This information is for official use; however, when goods are to be released for free circulation, the customs authorities in question may allow the importer or his duly authorised representative to consult the specimen impressions of the stamps.

Beneficiary countries which have already provided the information required under the first sub-paragraph shall not be obliged to provide it again, unless there has been a change.

[F3 2. For the purpose of Article 97k(4) the Commission will publish, in the Official Journal of the European Union (C series), the date on which a country or territory admitted or readmitted as a beneficiary country in respect of products referred to in Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 met the obligations set out in paragraph 1 of this Article.]

3. The Commission will send to the beneficiary countries specimen impressions of the stamps used by the customs authorities of the Member States for the issue of movement certificates EUR.1 upon request of the competent authorities of the beneficiary countries.

Textual Amendments

F3 Substituted by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 530/2013 of 10 June 2013 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code.

Article 97t U.K.

1. Subsequent verifications of certificates of origin Form A and invoice declarations shall be carried out at random or whenever the customs authorities of the Member States have reasonable doubts as to the authenticity of such documents, the originating status of the products concerned or the fulfilment of the other requirements of this section.

2. When they make a request for subsequent verification, the customs authorities of the Member States shall return the certificate of origin Form A and the invoice, if it has been submitted, the invoice declaration, or a copy of these documents, to the competent governmental authorities in the exporting beneficiary country giving, where appropriate, the reasons for the enquiry. Any documents and information obtained suggesting that the information given on the proof of origin is incorrect shall be forwarded in support of the request for verification.

If the customs authorities of the Member States decide to suspend the granting of the tariff preferences while awaiting the results of the verification, release of the products shall be offered to the importer subject to any precautionary measures judged necessary.

3. When a request for subsequent verification has been made, such verification shall be carried out and its results communicated to the customs authorities of the Member States within a maximum of six months or, in the case of requests sent to Norway, Switzerland or Turkey for the purpose of verifying replacement proofs of origin made out in their territories on the basis of a certificate of origin Form A or an invoice declaration made out in a beneficiary country, within a maximum of eight months from the date on which the request was sent. The results shall be such as to establish whether the proof of origin in question applies to the products actually exported and whether these products can be considered as products originating in the beneficiary country.

4. In the case of certificates of origin Form A issued following bilateral cumulation, the reply shall include a copy (copies) of the movement certificate(s) EUR.1 or, where necessary, of the corresponding invoice declaration(s).

5. If, in cases of reasonable doubt, there is no reply within the six months specified in paragraph 3 or if the reply does not contain sufficient information to determine the authenticity of the document in question or the real origin of the products, a second communication shall be sent to the competent authorities. If after the second communication the results of the verification are not communicated to the requesting authorities within four months from the date on which the second communication was sent, or if these results do not allow the authenticity of the document in question or the real origin of the products to be determined, the requesting authorities shall, except in exceptional circumstances, refuse entitlement to the tariff preferences.

6. Where the verification procedure or any other available information appears to indicate that the rules of origin are being contravened, the exporting beneficiary country shall, on its own initiative or at the request of the customs authorities of the Member States, carry out appropriate inquiries or arrange for such inquiries to be carried out with due urgency to identify and prevent such contraventions. For this purpose, the Commission or the customs authorities of the Member States may participate in the inquiries.

7. For the purposes of the subsequent verification of certificates of origin Form A, the exporters shall keep all appropriate documents proving the originating status of the products concerned and the competent governmental authorities of the exporting beneficiary country shall keep copies of the certificates, as well as any export documents referring to them. These documents shall be kept for at least three years from the end of the year in which the certificate of origin Form A was issued.

Article 97u U.K.

1. Articles 97s and 97t shall also apply between the countries of the same regional group for the purposes of provision of information to the Commission or to the customs authorities of the Member States and of the subsequent verification of certificates of origin Form A or invoice declarations issued in accordance with the rules on regional cumulation of origin.

2. For the purpose of Articles 85, 97m and 97p, the agreement concluded between the European Union, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey shall include inter alia an undertaking to provide each other with the necessary support in matters of administrative cooperation.

For the purpose of Articles 86(7) and (8) and 97k, the country with which the European Union has concluded a free-trade agreement in force and which has agreed to be involved in extended cumulation with a beneficiary country shall also agree to provide the latter with its support in matters of administrative cooperation in the same way as it would provide such support to the customs authorities of the Member States in accordance with the relevant provisions of the free-trade agreement concerned.

Sub-section 5 U.K. Procedures for the purpose of bilateral cumulation

Article 97v U.K.

1. Evidence of the originating status of European Union products shall be furnished by either:

(a) the production of a movement certificate EUR.1, a specimen of which is set out in Annex 21; or

(b) the production of an invoice declaration, the text of which is set out in Annex 18. An invoice declaration may be made out by any exporter for consignments containing originating products whose total value does not exceed EUR 6 000 or by an approved European Union exporter.

2. The exporter or its authorised representative shall enter ‘ GSP beneficiary countries ’ and ‘ EU ’ , or ‘ Pays bénéficiaires du SPG ’ and ‘ UE ’ , in box 2 of the movement certificate EUR.1.

3. The provisions of this Section concerning the issue, use and subsequent verification of certificates of origin Form A shall apply mutatis mutandis to EUR.1 movement certificates and, with the exception of the provisions concerning their issue, to invoice declarations.

4. The customs authorities of the Member States may authorise any exporter, hereinafter referred to as an ‘ approved exporter ’ , who makes frequent shipments of products originating in the European Union within the framework of bilateral cumulation to make out invoice declarations, irrespective of the value of the products concerned, where that exporter offers, to the satisfaction of the customs authorities, all guarantees necessary to verify:

(a) the originating status of the products, and

(b) the fulfilment of other requirements applicable in that Member State.

5. The customs authorities may grant the status of approved exporter subject to any conditions which they consider appropriate. The customs authorities shall grant to the approved exporter a customs authorisation number which shall appear on the invoice declaration.

6. The customs authorities shall monitor the use of the authorisation by the approved exporter. The customs authorities may withdraw the authorisation at any time.

They shall withdraw the authorisation in each of the following cases:

(a) the approved exporter no longer offers the guarantees referred to in paragraph 4;

(b) the approved exporter does not fulfil the conditions referred to in paragraph 5;

(c) the approved exporter otherwise makes improper use of the authorisation.

7. An approved exporter shall not be required to sign invoice declarations provided that the approved exporter gives the customs authorities a written undertaking accepting full responsibility for any invoice declaration which identifies the approved exporter as if the approved exporter had signed it in manuscript.

Sub-section 6 U.K. Ceuta and Melilla

Article 97w U.K.

The provisions of this Section concerning the issue, use and subsequent verification of proofs of origin shall apply mutatis mutandis to products exported from a beneficiary country to Ceuta and Melilla and to products exported from Ceuta and Melilla to a beneficiary country for the purposes of bilateral cumulation.

Ceuta and Melilla shall be regarded as a single territory.

The Spanish customs authorities shall be responsible for the application of this section in Ceuta and Melilla.] ]

Textual Amendments

F1 Substituted by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1602/2000 of 24 July 2000 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code (Text with EEA relevance).

F2 Inserted by Commission Regulation (EU) No 1063/2010 of 18 November 2010 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code.